Do You Carry a Handgun When You Camp?

[jstanley]

However the ability to defend myself is orders of magnitude more important to me than the legal ramifications incurred in that defense.

"It is better to be tried by twelve than to be carried by six"

[Skywagon]

Just so...
Bill

[jage]

Originally Posted by webbmac

So you're probably not going to be able to hide all the ammo you'd effectively need, and the ammo is just as illegal as the gun.

One, I personally don't/wouldn't/won't take a gun into Mexico. I can't think of a scenario where that would go well, even if it did save your life.

Second, I carry five hollowpoints, no more no less. More than that and I figure I shouldn't be in the fight in the first place. This isn't Rambo, double bandolier shoot your way out of a department store a la Mr. and Mrs. Smith. If you can't protect yourself with a glock and one spare clip, you probably shouldn't open fire anyway.

Third, I wouldn't take a gun into Mexico.

[ANZAC]

Re 5 JHP, one of the things I was trained to do after you neutralize the threat from the first bad guy is to scan for his partner. My XDM 45 has 13 JHP in it and one spare full mag, as well as the pepper blaster spray. 26 rounds is plenty. did someone already say the purpose of a handgun is to fight your way to your rifle?

[kmessinger]

I carry a pistol (have a Utah CC permit) but it stays locked up in the back until I camp. Some places, national forests, etc. it is legal to carry it openly and I usually do.

In planning for a trip to Canada I got a short-barreled (Candian legal) Mossberg shotgun so I could leave the pistol (illegal in Canada) behind.

I have been around guns and owned guns all my life. Used to carry one in a gun rack of the pick-up truck - about everyone else did too. I carried guns in Iraq and in Vietnam. I go to the range often. But I still wonder if I could react fast enough to really defend myself - the old 20' rule, old bones, bad eyes, etc. Still I will take the chance (do you hear banjo music) because I camp alone often.

The problem most have with guns (aside from remembering where you hid it or the key) is that the skill set required to use one successfully gets lost in a very little time. If someone buys a gun, hides it in the SMB after shooting 50 rounds thru it, and thinks it will now provide a shield against danger, they are fooling themselves. Just like the guy who buys the fancy 4x4 and doesn't have the skills to drive it. Dangerous to be around.

[flyfisher]

Well said Kmessinger. I've been camping in the Pacific Northwest for the last 40 years or so, and feel safer walking around in the woods under a full moon at midnight, than I do walking around my (very nice) neighborhood in Seattle at midnight. I've thought about installing a weapon in the SMB, but just don't think it's necessary. In the many years I've been camping way Hell n' gone at the dead end of a dead end road, I've never felt threatened or felt the need to carry a gun. I hope that doesn't change in the 30 or so years that I plan to continue to explore the dead end of the dead end roads around here.

Tom

[FamilyWagon]

Sorry CA friends, this post is for those who still live in the wild west.....

[kmessinger]

Do you leave them in the SMB all the time?

Mine are a little less accessible unless I am camped but I do worry about them being stolen. I keep a gunlock on them while stored in case they are stolen to lessen my liability. Also keep the ammo hidden in a different location.

from California . . .

[daveb]

And why I carry an SKS...cheap, loads quickly with stripper clips, and very reliable. Pull the bayonet, add a hunting style fiber stock along with a red dot scope and it doesn't raise most eyebrows.

Still, I think a hand gun and shotgun are better suited for standard protection.

[eldude]

Is this a trick question????